Tag: open records request

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (Pontiac)— A single day in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin–June 15th–saw two heroin overdoses just blocks from one another. Opioid abuse and overdose is a ever growing problem in the suburb, particularly among teens. The overdose duo, and recent arrests, allude…

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (Pontiac)— Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a highly complicated, stigmatized issue in law enforcement. As a result, little data exists to demonstrate how widespread this and other mental health issues are among officers. In Wauwatosa Wisconsin, one…

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (TFC)— Transparent policing means numerous things, all revolving around informing the public. Citizens are concerned what crimes may be occurring around them.Theoretically, police departments remedy this by producing public reports detailing their actions. Wauwatosa PD, however, may not…

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin (CopBlock)— After over 60 days, the Wauwatosa (Tosa) Police Department finally released an ex-detective’s 2013 resignation letter. However, WPD redacted large swaths in an admitted effort to protect their officers’ reputations. Its unaltered portions included accusations of systematically…

From 2004-2011, the Wauwatosa Police Department released yearly annual reports on its activities. The protocol wasn’t unusual, police normally provide some form of publicly available documentation. Of course, they don’t outline everything there is to know about a department, they’re simply transparent overviews.

In 2012, unlike other departments, Wauwatosa’s data never arrived to the city’s page. Around that time, the department cited challenges associated with a new report redaction policy it was forced to adopt. The policy, referenced in several Wauwatosa Now pieces, was enacted after a supreme court ruling on privacy rights.

A year later, Wauwatosa PD Captain Tim Sharpee said WPD was unable to do the redactions electronically. “So a clerk has to print out that report (and) redact all that information”, he said, alluding to the department’s lack of resources. In 2013, 10-13% of a department sworn for 94 officers left within a four month period. For a time, WPD claimed it lacked the manpower to process reports with the tedious methods available to them. It was assumed, but not entirely verified, that the annual’s were discontinued due to the same phenomenon that affected more regular reports.

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